Pietersen: I’m unsure over sacking

Kevin Pietersen claims he is still none the wiser as to the reasons for his sacking from the England team.

Pietersen has stirred extraordinary controversy this week with a series of remarkable claims in his newly-published autobiography.

The 34-year-old was axed by the England and Wales Cricket Board after last winter’s Ashes whitewash in Australia and has now put his side of the story clearly in the public domain.

The England and Wales Cricket Board have not officially responded with their version of events, nor have they commented on any of the book’s other controversial claims.

That leaves Pietersen still asking the simple question of why he was actually dismissed eight months ago.

Speaking to talkSPORT as his exhaustive schedule of interviews continued, Pietersen said: “I was angry with the ECB when I got sacked.

“I wouldn’t be sitting here now if the ECB had said, ‘This is why he got sacked’.

“But we are here, and it’s such a controversial topic because nobody knows why. I don’t know why.”

In another interview, with the London Evening Standard, Pietersen also turned his attention to ECB chairman Giles Clarke, suggesting he was one of the chief reasons why he has been exiled.

“What would have to happen for me to be recalled by England?” he asked. “Clearly, the boss would have to go. Clarke would have to go, and I’ve been hearing that could happen in the next few months.

“That’s all hearsay, you never know. If there is a change at the top, there is potential, but we will wait and see.”

As other people within the game continued to have their say, former England team-mate Paul Collingwood suggested there would be little chance of a Pietersen return.

Speaking at a wine-tasting event at Lord’s, Collingwood said: “I would have thought there’d be no chance after this book’s come out, to be honest, but you never know what happens in the future.

“I’m sure if he got back in the nets and played for a county and scored the runs he’d put the pressure on them.

“(But) certainly there’s a few people disgruntled with his book, so I can’t imagine that’ll happen in the near future.”

The fallout from Pietersen’s book this week has also seen Geoffrey Boycott launch a stinging attack on the ECB over a leaked document which portrayed Pietersen as a troublemaker in the England dressing room.

On Tuesday evening a document emerged which outlined a list of what the ECB saw as Pietersen’s misdemeanours on the disastrous Ashes tour last winter with the governing body having to issue a statement stressing that it was not part of a wider dossier compiled on the actions of the flamboyant right-hander.

The document specified instances of Pietersen being “disengaged” during Flower’s addresses to team meetings, another entry relating he wanted to leave the tour because of pain in his knee if England lost the third Test to go 3-0 down – which they did – and later, abusive subsequent exchanges between him and his team-mates as relationships apparently broke down.

In a column in the Daily Telegraph, former England batsman Boycott labelled some of the accusations “so trivial it beggars belief” and stated his belief that whoever leaked the document should lose their job.

“This has been a sorry week for English cricket, but the England and Wales Cricket Board started this farce with Kevin Pietersen so it should not try to take the moral high ground,” he said.

“For me, it reached its lowest point on Tuesday when a “strictly confidential” ECB document was leaked to the media. The points it contained were pathetic and it was a crass idea to put together such a report to try to trash Kevin. It stinks.

“Whoever dreamt that up is not fit to lead English cricket. Kevin has been a fantastic batsman for England. He thrilled millions and helped win matches for the England team that enabled some people at the ECB to bask in reflected glory.”